The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender Published by Point on August 25th 2015
Pages: 329
Goodreads
In this asylum, your mind plays tricks on you all the time…
Delia’s new house isn’t just a house. Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females—an insane asylum nicknamed “Hysteria Hall.” However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong willed. Kind of like Delia herself.
But the house still wants to keep “troubled” girls locked away. So, in the most horrifying way, Delia gets trapped.
And that’s when she learns that the house is also haunted.
Ghost girls wander the halls in their old-fashioned nightgowns. A handsome ghost boy named Theo roams the grounds. Delia finds that all the spirits are unsettled and full of dark secrets. The house, as well, harbors shocking truths within its walls—truths that only Delia can uncover, and that may set her free.
But she’ll need to act quickly, before the house’s power overtakes everything she loves.
From master of suspense Katie Alender comes a riveting tale of twisted memories and betrayals, and the meaning of madness.
3.5 Nuts
I don’t read a lot of horror but I really should read more. YA horror isn’t really that scary but it’s fun to read a nice ghost story. Particularly when October rolls around I’ll have my nose buried in all sorts of books like this. But I read this book in the Spring, on a whim. And I’m glad I did.
This particular story is a bit cliche, a haunted asylum. It doesn’t do much that’s out of the ordinary, though the main character also being a ghost is a little unusual. The easiest way to describe this book to someone is this: It’s like a cross between the Murder House of American Horror Story season 1 mixed with the asylum of season 2. The Murder House aspect is in the simplest form, you die in the asylum and that’s pretty much where you stay. You can go on the grounds but you can’t leave.
The main character is a bit bland. There’s a bit of boy drama in her background that’s pretty high school. It’s shallow and doesn’t really do much for the overall story in my opinion. The new romance is okay. Honestly I’m sort of ambivalent about it. It’s not bad but I wasn’t exactly swooning either. It exists.
More interesting to me were the relationships between the main character and her family, especially her sister. The relationships between her and her friends were also more engaging than the romantic ones. I mean, for real, the romance just just meh. The MC’s family clearly loves her but they don’t communicate all that well. And even though they left things incredibly rocky the love between them trumps any other feelings.
My favorite part of the book is the mystery involved. Unraveling the past and following the clues her relatives left behind is what drew me into the story the most. That and the other ghosts, all of whom had different backstories and unique personalities. Really this is the strongest part of the book, the paranormal bits.
I recommend this book to fans of American Horror Story and other horror fans.
Do you watch American Horror Story? I’ve only really enjoyed season one. Share your thoughts in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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